Shouldn't my case be complete by now?

[trailmix 77]

well this week i've had mix messages from nvc and i've made thousands of calls by now.

nvc sent letter out on 19th Sept for ds 230 and that automated message said "missing information/incomplete" etc etc well this morning

when i called that darn things says "CASE COMPLETE"

which is a good thing but then what do i do with the checklist? last time i talked to the operater told me that things were under rewiew and that i was missing ds230... so i sent it in with the checklist again! is things going to cause any problem?

Good question - has anyone ever sent the DS-230 twice?

I did hear of one person who had a bad lawyer. Their case was complete and then the lawyer went ahead and sent some other documents and they re-opened the file - not sure what happened - they are now moving forward with their interview though.

I'm sure it will be ok eventually.

Edited September 27, 2007 by trailmix

[Chris Parker 11]

PS. @ Chris Parker: Nice job! That will really be nice that the RFE sheet for the I-864 will be added to James' Shortcut.

I did a similar Word DOC for the IV fee bill after I got my bill.

The controversial assumption on that bill is that the transaction/serial # in the very bottom barcode is not so important or is not used at all. To try that shortcut, you'd have to submit the IV payment with a somewhat defective payment coupon, because:

(1) the very bottom barcode with the serial number is intentionally cut-off and missing (don't worry, there is another barcode on the payment coupon without the serial # in it, they'll have to scan that one instead if they can), or

(2) the very bottom barcode has all 0's for the transaction # (could cause a posting problem), or

(3) the very bottom barcode is shorter and lacks the serial # (could cause a scan error), or

(4) the very bottom barcode while the correct size, is invalid and will not scan.

I submitted a FOIA request with Dept. of State to try to learn more what the IV fee processing procedure is, to hopefully get more of a clue. However, if someone wants to be a guinea pig and try to pay the IV fee early using one of those 4 techniques, let me know (I personally would try #1 first, as it gives NVC no real clue about where the bill came from). I think we will get a trick that works at for IV bills at some point.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Chris Parker

[Geist 0]

Hey, I just got the second IV Fee Bill I requested. Shall I scan it in and post it in case anyone's interested in seeing it?

[greeneclipse 0]

Hey, I just got the second IV Fee Bill I requested. Shall I scan it in and post it in case anyone's interested in seeing it?

please do... it will give others a chance to tweak it or create a new shortcut.

thanks

[Chris Parker 11]

Hey, I just got the second IV Fee Bill I requested. Shall I scan it in and post it in case anyone's interested in seeing it?

please do... it will give others a chance to tweak it or create a new shortcut.

As I said above, I already made a word DOC for it. But, this shortcut involves some degree of risk & uncertainty. I can post the doc here tonight with some brief instructions on how to fix it up for a specific case, if people think that would be useful?

[trailmix 77]

Hey, I just got the second IV Fee Bill I requested. Shall I scan it in and post it in case anyone's interested in seeing it?

please do... it will give others a chance to tweak it or create a new shortcut.

As I said above, I already made a word DOC for it. But, this shortcut involves some degree of risk & uncertainty. I can post the doc here tonight with some brief instructions on how to fix it up for a specific case, if people think that would be useful?

Sure post it, I think that's a good idea. All of the shortcuts are risky anyway

[Chris Parker 11]

Hey, I just got the second IV Fee Bill I requested. Shall I scan it in and post it in case anyone's interested in seeing it?

Actually, since it is a replacement, I'd like to see it, just to see if it looks the same as the original. We don't get to see replacement IV bills every day.... If there is an opportunity to create a safer IV bill shortcut from this information, I think we should pursue it.

Indeed, I am also curious to know if the serial # might happen to be more like NVC's bank account number and the same for everyone... What is the serial number next to the case number below the very bottom barcode?

[Chris Parker 11]

Sure post it, I think that's a good idea. All of the shortcuts are risky anyway

This one is extra risky because we can only create defective IV payment coupons. The unknown question is, "Will the defect matter?"

All the other shortcuts create currently conforming documents, so long as NVC doesn't change its specifications.

I will post my IV fee bill document here tonight. Suffice it to say, it is a very experimental document!

Edited September 27, 2007 by Chris Parker

[jayzar 1]

hi Meg and Rina!

hmm.. looks like i have to sleep more and earlier than i usually do to have the 29th day sept come and have my hubby call NVC to check the status of the my DS230....

it's already the 2nd time we submitted it to them, the second along with the civil docs already.. but the first time i was RFE'd, what they noticed is just a blank space in #6 and 2-province field..

just yesterday, i read a thread about answering Q#2: other names used ( if married give maiden name)....

stupid me (hahaha) i didn't write in my maiden name and just put in N/A.. NVC didn't care about it and didn't mark it w/ red pen upon returning it back to us..

im hanginng now.... just like what Rina told me - hope i get a more lenient checker this time...

my hubby jay and i were not calling NVC yet.. we'll wait for the 29th of sept.... hahaha

il say a prayer for us girls.. the tiniest thing i can do that brings wonderful effect..

il update you guys, and keep me posted as well...

thanks!

jyz

[Geist 0]

Okay I'm working on getting a good scan. The numbers after the case number on the bill are -019582681

[trailmix 77]

Sure post it, I think that's a good idea. All of the shortcuts are risky anyway

This one is extra risky because we can only create defective IV payment coupons. The unknown question is, "Will the defect matter?"

All the other shortcuts create currently conforming documents, so long as NVC doesn't change its specifications.

I will post my IV fee bill document here tonight. Suffice it to say, it is a very experimental document!

I agree that this shortcut will be 'extra' defective - because it will be missing a code.

However, I created a shortcut cover sheet for sending the I-864 and the hard copy arrived before I mailed it - so I had my 'shortcut' copy on hand.

I compared the two, holding them up to each other - the 'shortcut' version didn't line up with the 'real' version. So I still think it's risky - I guess maybe they don't care as long as the info is there - but as you mention, with the IV fee bill it will be a little more risky.

[greeneclipse 0]

TRAILMIX...

how "close" does the shortcut line up to the real one? If they are relatively similar, I think I'll actually send them out soon (today or tommorrow)

[trailmix 77]

TRAILMIX...

how "close" does the shortcut line up to the real one? If they are relatively similar, I think I'll actually send them out soon (today or tommorrow)

You mean for the I-864 and DS-230? They aren't bad, they just aren't perfect. The bottom portion of the I-864 one ends up being about 5 spaces lower all the way down the page. Anyway I used the shortcuts for the DS-230 and it was accepted.

This is a copy of the 'real' DS-230 Cover Sheet:

Edited September 27, 2007 by trailmix

[Nicky Salmon 0]

The automated service is sometimes wrong. Call 202-663-1225 press 1 then 0 you will talk to a live person they can help you.

Hello Megan,

We are in the same situation right now. I am becoming so impatient and still no changes on the status of my case as per my conversation with NVC earlier today.

AAarrgghhh.... they only have until Wednesday this week or else.....

~ Rina

Well AT LEAST we are not the only ones then and you're going through the same thing too. But ENOUGH of enough, how long does it take to actually look at some papers?! I would love to be a fly on NVC's wall and see just exactly what they do there!

I haven't called since last week, maybe I should ring them up and see if something has changed? What if it has and the automated service hasn't? What do you think?

I'm sorry that you are going through the same thing.

[Chris Parker 11]

how "close" does the shortcut line up to the real one? If they are relatively similar, I think I'll actually send them out soon (today or tommorrow)

All of the James' shortcuts will fail any forensic examination with the original, that's true. To be conservative, however, James' made them as covert as possible so that NVC wouldn't even notice unless they looked at them closely, which they have no time to do with the volumes of mail they have to handle every day. I don't think it was even necessary to do it this way, rather it was just to not attract any attention and avoid any questions from being asked.

I call the James' shortcuts documents "conforming" because NVC can use them to perform their intended function without incident. That does not mean they are indistinguishable, because if the folks at NVC really cared about this, they could identify them upon closer inspection for blemishes. The barcodes I've been generating even had a slight grey background box around them, but they were accepted all the same. For that matter, don't you think somebody at NVC would know something funky is going on when they generate a document on Monday and, from a very small group of people, it arrives completed in the mail on Tuesday before the mailroom has even sent it out?

The reality is, NVC isn't making any decisions based on these documents; they are just an administrative tool used to assist in collecting documents and fees. They probably go immediately into the trash once scanned, probably by a contractor too. On the other hand, when NVC receives a completed document that they in fact have requested, they really can't reject it. In fact, all they even threaten if you do send a document without the proper barcode sheet or payment coupon is a "delay" in processing; i.e. they will still fix it, but it will take extra time and they want to discourage exception handling as much as possible of course.

For the proposed substitute IV payment coupon, I'd suggest that if the payment doesn't process with the coupon, in the worst case you may have to wait the maximum amount time before NVC will research the missing payment and post it to the case. What would you expect your credit card company to do with a check received with an improper or missing payment coupon? How much longer will this take versus waiting for the bill to arrive in the mail and thensending it and waiting the normal processing time? Probably near-equivilant in the end, but nobody can make any promises of course.